Demountable X-ray apparatus



July 8, 1958 R c SCHIRING L 2,842,676

DEMOUNTABLE X-RAY APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 15, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l lr. 4 9m July 8, 1958 c, sc ET AL 2,842,676

DEMOUNTABLE X-RAY APPARATUS 4 Sheec-Sheet 2 Original Filed Nov. 15, 1951 INVENTORS 23; 7/1 C. JCHIf/NG July 8, 1958 R. c. SCHIRING ETAL 2,842,676

DEMOUNTABLE X-RAY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Nov. 15, 1951 llllul' il-IILLL I zr July 8, 1958 R. c. SCHIRING T L DEMOUNTABLE X-RAY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Nov. 15, 1951 n n A United States Patent DEMOUNTABLE X-RAY APPARATUS Ralph C. Schiring, Shaker Heights, and Anthony J. Foderaro, Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to Picker X-Ray Corporation, Waite Mfg. Div., Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application November 15, 1951, Serial No. 256,468, now Patent No. 2,754,426, dated July 10, 1956. Divided and this application June 28, 1956, Serial No. 594,637

3 Claims. (Cl. 250-92) This invention relates to X-ray apparatus and particularly to apparatus that is especially suited, although not limited, to military use. This application is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 256,468, filed November 15, 1951, now U. S. Patent No. 2,754,426, issued July 10, 1956, and entitled Demountable X-Ray Apparatus.

One of the most serious draw-backs to the use of X- ray equipment for military use is the weight and size of the table and associated equipment. There is a great demand, however, for the construction of a portable X-ray unit which is capable of satisfactory use, either for fluoroscopic or for radiographic examination, and which is sufliciently light in Weight and compact that it can be transported readily and quickly set up for use directly behind battle lines in any location. All equipment heretofore devised for such purpose has been packed in too many separate containers, and has been inadequate from the viewpoint of satisfying the requirements of the medical field services with proper diagnostic X-ray equipment.

The principal object of the present invention is to make a demountable X-ray unit which, when demounted, is sufliciently compact that it can readily be handled and transported and thereafter can be quickly set up in any location for immediate use. The invention additionally contemplates a construction which is light in weight yet which is sulficiently rigid when assembled to permit the use of the table for either fluoroscopy or radiography.

The invention is carried out preferably by utilizing a box-like base which forms a support for a collapsible table and which comprises a support for the tube stand, allowing movement of the stand longitudinally as well as transversely of the table. The box is so made that the tube stand, screen arm and supporting structure therefor, as well as the screen and table, may be compactly stored 7 within the base and closed by a portion of the table,

so that the entire assembly assumes a trunk or chestlike appearance. The tube, the control equipment, and accessories may then be mounted in a separate chest, whereby there is provided a self-contained X-ray unit which is well adapted, though not especially limited, to field use.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an X-ray table and tube stand in assembled position; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the unit in closed position; Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the mast assembly; Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the tube stand support, showing the mast in side elevation; Figs. 6 and 7 are sections taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a partial view in side elevation illustrating the mast in folded position; Fig. 9 is a perspective view partially broken away illustrating a portion of the mast adjacent the hinged joint with the sections in extended position; Fig. 10 is a top plan view illustrating a portion of the base with the tube stand carriage positioned therein; Figs. 11 and 12 are sections taken on 'ice 6! planes indicated by the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 10.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the assembled X-ray unit with the head and screen in position for horizontal fluoroscopy. The unit is also adapted for radiographic use as is illustrated in Figs. 3, and 4, Fig. 4 being illustrative of the shutter and screen assembly, but with the head detached from its support. Fig. 2 shows the packed or stored condition of the unit, as comprising 'a chest-like structure. Referring first to the assembly of Fig. 1, the apparatus includes a box-like member 5 which constitutes a base upon which the unit is supported. The base may also comprise the body portion of the chest, the lid of which may comprise the front panel 8 which is adapted to be clamped to the base, as by hasps 9. When assembled, as is shown in Fig. l, the base has a bottom wall 11, side walls 12 and 13 and end walls 14 and 15 respectively. The side walls support rails 16 and 17 (Fig. 11) which provides a trackway for a carriage 20, which is movable lengthwise of the base and which, in turn, carries rails 21 for supporting a cross-travel carriage 22, upon which the tube stand is mounted.

The tube stand includes an articulated mast which comprises a lower section 23 and an upper section 24, which are hinged intermediately at 25 (Fig. 5), so that the mast may be folded when removed from the carriage and stored within the chest. When erected, the mast sections may be locked in extended position by means of a latch 26.

The base also supports the table which is illustrated as having a leg frame 30 at the front end and a leg frame 31 at the foot end, these being unitary structures which are hinged to the front panel at 32 and 33 respectively for folding against the front panel. The table top, in the assembled position, is positioned upon a. head end support 41 and upon a foot end support 42.

The mast has a carriage 45 slidably mounted thereon, and the carriage in turn supports a swivel arm indicated in general at 46, which carries a screen arm 47, a tube arm 50, and a shutter arm 51. In practice, the swivel arm may be disposed in position for use in horizontal or vertical fluoroscopic position, or as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 for radiographic position. The weight of the carriage 45 and of the swivel arm and its associated equipment may be counterbalanced by a spring 29 within the lower section of the mast, the connection including a cable 39 which is adapted to pass around the hinge 25 (Fig. 8) whenever the mast is folded for storage.

The tube stand mast, when in use, is supported upon the cross-travel carriage 22, preferably by a roller 18 (Figs. 5 and 7) which engages a ring 19, and is detachably mounted thereon so as to be removable and storable within the base. In like manner, the screen 48 and head 52 may be removed from the swivel arm 46, and the swivel arm, in turn, may be detached from the carriage 45 to facilitate storage purposes. The roller 18 takes the vertical thrust of the mast and its associated equipment, but the mast is centered by a pin 57 which fits into a socket member 58. Suitable radially extending depressions 59 serve to receive the roller and thereby to hold the mast in a pre-selected position. The construction is such that upon rotating the mast until the tube and shutter arms clear-the table, then the swivel arm and the units carried thereby may be raised and manipulated, for use in either the horizontal or vertical position.

An advantage of the present invention is that the X- ray unit is quickly adaptable to all standard techniques which are desirable for field units.

We claim:

1. In an X-ray apparatus, a tube stand comprising an articulated mast having at least two sections, means for' latch means for securing the sections in extended position a carriage, a bearing ring on said carriage, and a roller carried by the mast and engaging the ring to support the mast upon the carriage.

2. In an X-ray apparatus, a tube stand comprising an articulated mast having at least two sections, means for hinging the sections together along one side of the mast, latch means for securing the sections in extended position, a carriage, interengaging pin and socket means on the mast and carriage respectively for centering the mast, and other interengaging means on the mast and carriage respectively for absorbing the vertical thrust of the mast.

3. In an X-ray apparatus, a tube stand comprising an articuated mast having at least two sections, means for hinging the sections together, latch means for securing the sections in extended position, a slide mounted for .4. movement along the mast, a swivel arm carried by the slide, said arm supporting a tube head, a fluoroscopic screen and a shutter assembly, a counter-balancing spring positioned within and attached to the lower section of said mast, said mast having a sheave at the top thereof, and a cable connecting the spring with the slide and extending over said sheave.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

